The launch event, held on Thursday at the Sibanor Lower Basic School in Foni, West Coast Region, featured a vibrant tree-planting exercise involving partners and students on the school grounds.
The Green School Initiative is a joint effort aimed at fostering environmental awareness and sustainability through tree planting and environmental education in schools. The programme, which began with 30 pilot schools, is set to expand to 1,700 schools nationwide, with an ambitious target of planting 100,000 fruit and native trees.
Complementing this initiative is a Community Agroforestry component, which engages families in tree planting to enhance food security and build climate resilience.
In her opening remarks, Musu Kuta Komma-Bah, Country Director of ChildFund The Gambia, described trees as “the lungs of the planet,” highlighting their vital role in producing oxygen and maintaining ecological balance. She emphasised that trees provide food, shade, shelter, and sustenance to countless species, including humans.
However, Komma-Bah expressed concern over the growing environmental challenges, including deforestation and other human-induced changes. She noted that ChildFund The Gambia, in partnership with the government, has integrated environmental protection into its programme interventions to help curb carbon emissions and reduce environmental degradation.
As part of its sponsor retention strategy, ChildFund allows sponsored children to plant a tree in honour of their sponsors. This initiative not only strengthens communication between sponsors and children but also contributes to environmental protection. Komma-Bah added that the initiative has sparked community engagement and action in addressing climate change.
She further underscored the importance of involving students in every stage of the tree-planting process, noting that such participation is not only beneficial for the growth of the trees but also educational and empowering for the children.
Samba Faye, Chief Executive Officer of Plantation Nursery, explained that the organisation was established in 2005 to tackle issues such as deforestation, food insecurity, and youth unemployment. He revealed that The Gambia is currently losing approximately 50,000 hectares of forest cover due to deforestation. According to statistics from the Gambia Bureau of Statistics (GBoS), over 28% of the population is facing food insecurity.
Faye noted that the Green School Initiative was originally introduced by Plantation Nursery, with the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE) being the first institution consulted. Following discussions with MoBSE last year, ChildFund joined the initiative as a key partner.
Speaking at the event, Louis Moses Mendy, Permanent Secretary at MoBSE, emphasised the significance of tree planting and urged parents and students to nurture the initiative for long-term sustainability.
The launch marks a significant step towards integrating environmental education into the national curriculum and fostering a culture of ecological responsibility among young Gambians.
